"For most Zambians, it was like putting something to bed." So said a supporter after her country's dramatic penalty shootout win over Ivory Coast in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday. Zambia's worst footballing disaster took place 19 years ago, when a rickety old military plane carrying a gifted national team crashed after takeoff, killing all on board. The plane had just refuelled at Libreville in Gabon, and the disaster plunged relations between Zambia and Gabon to new lows. There were rows over who should pay for the investigation, and theories that the plane had been inadvertently shot down by Gabon's military. So it was fated that the return of the team known as the Copper Bullets should have started with a tie against Senegal, where the 1993 aircraft was headed, and should have ended in Gabon. Many believe the ghosts of the fallen team were playing with them. It gives team spirit a whole new meaning.